Accidental Creation
by Dark Angel Bakura
Summary: When Elsa accidentally froze the land of Arendale, her powers had farther-reaching effects. Jack Rime, an ordinary farm boy, found that out first hand. (Warning, currently no real mention of Frozen characters)


**A/N: This plot bunny nibbled my brain when I was wondering what happened to the areas farther from Arendale during Elsa's little deep freeze. Did they get as cold? Did the cold last as long? Did it take the same amount of time to reheat (Making land sound like it's in a microwave oven...)? Did it reheat naturally? Did anybody accidentally drown? Could that happen?**

**Then I remembered the Jack Frost drowned in a lake, and, well, I put two and two together...**

* * *

Soft-soled boots slid through the spring grass, thinned by years of grazing animals. The boy they were attached to shooed a few sheep a few feet farther into their pen, using his crook to catch one that was trying to get away. "Come back here!" He hissed, jerking the ram towards the pen. The ram tried to balk, but after years of herding sheep, a little stubbornness wasn't anything special to Jack. He planted his feet and jerked the crook, carefully gaining ground. After a few more muscle-tearing minutes, the ram finally capitulated, entering the pen with a depressed bleet.

Jack slammed the pen door shut with a sigh, and then he turned to the two ewes. "You know what? I like you two the best." He said, hopping on top of the fence and balancing precariously on its thick, sturdy branches. The ram eyed him angrily but followed his journey along the fence until he hopped off next to the hen coop. Before ducking into the small house, he tossed the ram a chunk of cheese, hoping his mother didn't see it.

Inside the hen coop, he was greeted with squawks and chirps and chaos. He grabbed one of his mother's baskets from its peg on the wall and hunted for an egg or two he could find. It was early in the season, but at least one of their ten or fifteen hens had to of laid an egg. And indeed, his least favorite hen had. "Shoo! Get away!" He said, flapping his arms at the hen. She just stared at him, jerking her head back with each flap of his arms. Jack sighed and braced himself.

With a quick motion, he snatched up the two eggs and dumped them in his basket carefully. Unfortunately, the hen saw him coming and left a few nasty gashes up and down his arm. He winced and made a mental note to have his mother treat them.

"JAAAAAAACK!" Jack's ears pricked at the sound of his mother's voice. He glanced outside, roughly gauging the time to be dinnertime. He darted under the doorway to the coop with the basket of eggs and grabbed the barrel of apples he had harvested before letting the sheep out to graze.

"COMING!" He called back, racing home as fast as he could. He burst through the door of his family's simple two-room house just as his family was sitting around the rough-hewn wooden table. Jack joined them quickly, setting his acquisitions by the front door with his father's and mother's harvests.

"We're harvesting quite early this year." His mother said, passing out generous ladles full of vegetable and chicken soup. "We might be able to take this down next week and sell it at the market. Too bad we don't live closer to Arendale. We could go down every evening." His mother said pointedly. Jack and his sister shifted uncomfortably in their chairs as their mother brought up the ever-present elephant in the room. "And we would not need to pay as much to set up a stall."

Jack's father, a rather well-built man with rough hands and an even rougher demeanor, growled. "I don't trust any kingdom that doesn't open its doors. We're still too close for my comfort." He said, scratching his shoulder and slurping down a spoonful of soup.

His wife seemed about to speak, but Jack stood up suddenly. "So! Good weather we're having!" He said, giving each of them pointed looks. His parents cleared their throats and seemed very interested in their food.

"Yeah!" Jack's sister piped up. "The lake's really pretty. Can we go swimming after dinner?" She asked, looking at Jack with wide, pleading eyes.

Jack looked at her for a long time, trying to fight those eyes. He was tired… he hated swimming… He sighed. "I need to let out the sheep one last time. Then we can go." He said, unable to believe that he had just agreed. His sister cheered, nearly upsetting her cup in the process.

* * *

"Jaaaaack!" His sister whined. "You're not being any fun!" She was standing in knee-deep water, trying to convince Jack to come with her. He shook his head.

"I don't like going to bed wet!" He called back as Emily hiked up her skirts and slid deeper into the water. Once the water lapped to her upper thighs, she pressed her skirt down into the water, where it hung, suspended in an aerial ballet.

"I know. You like going to bed stinky!" Emily said, sticking her tongue out playfully. Jack sighed and got to his feet, shaking his boots off unsteadily and rolling up his trousers above his knee. He left his boots and shepherd's crook by his sister's shoes and petticoat, and then dipped the tips of his toes into the water. Emily cheered. "Come on Jack! It's fun!" She squealed, running closer towards him in slow motion.

Jack grinned and waded into the ankle-deep water, waiting for his gullible little sister to come closer. Once she was within range, Jack leapt and tackled her lightly into the water. She stood up, spluttering and coughing, but grinning a wide grin. With a small giggle, she pushed Jack back and hurried away.

Before she could get too far, Jack caught her under the armpits and swung her around. "Don't think you're getting away that easily!" He crooned. He was about to drop her when their mother's ear-piercing whistle shot through the air, calling them inside.

Jack and Emily gathered their things and hurried home barefoot, settling in front of the fire their father had made. As per usual, the adults of the house went to bed with the sun, leaving Jack and Emily to share the cot between the table and fireplace. After they had successfully dried out their clothes, the two siblings clambered into bed and wrapped their great-grandmother's handmade quilt over their warm bodies in an attempt to trap the heat.

Emily fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, leaving Jack to stare at the ever-darkening ceiling until the fire's last embers died and he fell asleep.

* * *

Jack shook his head clear of sleep's foggy haze and noticed that his feet were practically frozen solid. He tugged them back under his blanket and shivered, his breath visible in the air. He tried closing his eyes and falling back asleep, but the cold had already woken him up, so he sat up straighter.

Emily was still sleeping soundly next to him , so Jack tucked his half of the quilt over her and rubbed his hands together, looking for his wool socks and boots. Why is it so cold out? The last freeze was two weeks ago!

Nevertheless, he shoved his socks and books on and looked around for his cloak, finding it stuffed in the corner with all the rest of their dirty laundry. Jack sniffed it carefully and deemed it acceptable for use, tossing it over his shoulders. He grabbed his staff and started on his daily chores.

Around noontime, Jack finally decided that enough was enough, so he pulled his cloak tighter around himself, gripped his staff tighter, and fought against the fast-blowing wind towards the sheep pen. The second the sheep saw him, they broke out of their huddle and baa-ed furiously, as if demanding why it was so cold outside. Jack gave a short laugh, unlatched the pen gate, and shoved it through the rapidly piling snow. The three sheep bounded through the snow, followed closely by Jack, who didn't even bother to close the gate again. What was there to take? Grass?

Jack peered through storm, but saw nothing. His father warned him never to try to find home in the middle of a blizzard, but there was nowhere else to go. Freeze in the sheep pen or freeze trying to find home.

He decided on the latter.

He took the lead when the sheep tried veering towards their feeding ground, using his crook to guide the ram. Unlike his usual obstinacy, the ram was easily lead and trotted quickly to keep up with Jack despite the snow and wind that was desperately trying to push it back.

Ten minutes later, he stopped dead in his tracks. He had been walking for longer than he should have, even with the strong headwind. Was he going the right direction? He focused hard, trying to pick out any semblance of light around him, but found none. The three sheep looked at him with wide black eyes, bleating softly. He stared back down at them with a one-sided smile. "Nowhere to go but straight ahead, eh?" He asked, but his voice was lost in the wind.

He set off, forcing one foot in front of the other until he was sure that he had hypothermia and possibly even frostbite. Just when he was about to give up and huddle with the sheep, a voice came from his right.

"…aaaAAAACCK!" Jack's heart leapt at his mother's desperate voice. He tried calling back, but the wind snatched his voice away. With a sudden strength, he surged towards his mother's frantic voice, leading the sheep after him. Within five minutes, the heart-pounding adventure was over when he finally saw the lights of home.

"Mom!" He called, rushing forward and leaping into her arms. The sheep butted in rudely, interrupting their reunion. The second everyone was safely inside, Jack's mother shut the door, bolted it, and wrapped her arms tightly around Jack's torso. Her shoulders racked slightly, and with shock, Jack realized his mother was crying. He had never seen her do that.

He patted her side awkwardly, arms pressed firmly at his sides by his mother's vice-like grip. "There, there, mother. It takes more than a snow storm to kill me!" His mother gave a slight hiccupping laugh and pulled away, rubbing some of Jack's hair out of her face. Her face rose in surprise.

"Your face is ice!" She said, snatching her hand back.

Jack gave her a no duh look. "A cold face usually happens when one is outside too long." He said, smiling slightly.

His mom shook her head in disbelief, and Emily peered closer. "You have icicles on your cheeks!" Emily said, poking something hard on Jack's face. He swatted her hand away and lifted a hand to his face. His fingers contacted something hard. Then he got a good look at his hands. They were ever-so-slightly blue, and ice speckled their tips. With the un-frozen heel of his hand, he touched his cheek. It was cold and hard under his flesh.

"Quick! Get to the fire. If we warm him up quickly, he might be okay!" Jack's father roared, dumping firewood onto the already-roaring fire. The women hurried and gathered every blanket, cloak, and robe they could find, draping it around Jack and tightening until he was sitting in front of the fire in what could have been mistaken as swaddling clothes. Within minutes, his temperature rose until he was certain that he was going to burn to death.

His mother returned with a mug of hot tea and placed it in front of Jack, looking at his face. She brushed away some of the ice on his cheeks and was shocked to find it came of easily, with no sign of damage to the skin. "Did that hurt?" She asked, leaning forward and inspecting his cheek. Jack shook his head.

Jack's mother called for her husband, who walked in somberly. He looked from his wife to his son. "What's the news?" He asked.

Jack's mother leapt to her feet and started untangling Jack from the sheets. "I think it worked! His face isn't cold anymore!" And, as expected, when Jack's hands were removed from their fiery cocoon, they were perfectly pale and ice-free. She grabbed him up in a great bear hug and started swaying back and forth slightly. Emily peered from the kitchen, which doubled as their parent's bedroom. She saw Jack free of his bounds and standing on his own two feet and gave an enthusiastic cheer.

"So why is this weather so bad?" Jack asked his parents when they all finally sat down to lunch with a warm stew and plenty of steaming hot tea. Jack's mother shrugged, but his father scowled.

"It's Arendale." He spat. "It's trying to kill us all."

With impressive tact, Jack's mother ignored her husband."I hope we have enough food to last the storm. Try not to waste food..." She said, glaring at her husband, who lost approximately half of his food to his lap. He gave her an innocent look.

"I'm a growing boy! I need my food!" He said.

Jack was about to respond that their father can do without food for a while when Emily jumped up on her chair, "I think the snow stopped!" She squealed, running over to the window and pressing her nose against it.

Every family member rushed over to the window and looked out at the even white hills, rolling ever so gently, and the still-leafless ash trees covered in snow. The view took their collective breaths away. Without waiting for parental consent, Emily tore out of the house and played in the snow, flopping back and creating a lopsided snow angel.

"That, dear sister, is no snow angel. _This_!" Jack chose his spot carefully and laid down, rubbing his arms and legs briskly along the ground. The snow piled at his head. Once he was sure that it was perfect, he got to his feet and gestured to his immaculate creation. "_This_ is a snow angel!"

Emily stuck out her tongue, leaned down, and scooped up a ball of snow, pelting her brother. Jack ducked, but it was too late. The projectile slammed into the side of his head, dyeing part of his hair white. He rubbed the snow out and grabbed his own snowball, forming and throwing it within seconds. Emily skittered out of the way, and the ball fell to the ground at her feet. She stuck out her tongue and ran down the hill.

Jack set off, waving to his parents. They closed the door with nods and smiles, but Jack had already set off after his impish sister. With an Indian-like hoot, he chased her down the hillside, occasionally throwing a quickly-formed snowball. She managed to dodge a few before Jack's aim fell true. She stumbled slightly but regained her balance.

With unbelievable dexterity and without missing a beat, she leaned down, scooped up snow, and whipped it at Jack. She watched with glee as it hit him with a solid _thunk_. Jack fell with a shout, tumbling down the hillside, snow upset by his thin frame. He came to a stop at the bottom, motionless. Emily waited with bated breath for him to pop up and throw another snowball, but he just lay there, eyes closed, and not moving.

"Jack!" She cried, rushing towards her brother. She shook his shoulder, but he didn't stir. Tears burst from her eyes as she shook her brother even harder. "JACK! JA-"

Her cry was cut off by a face-full of snow shoved in her face. She coughed and wiped it away, hearing a familiar crackle of laughter. She stared at her brother, who was holding his sides and laughing.

"You should have seen your face! It was priceless!" He could barely keep tears of mirth contained.

"I HATE you!" Emily screamed, throwing a handful of snow at him. It didn't even cross the gap between them. "I hate you! I hate you! I **hate** you!" She yelled, running away from him.

"Emily! Wait!" He called. He sighed, realizing that he had gone too far. "Emily!" He set off at the fastest he could run, and he caught up with his short-legged sister easily. He grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around to face him. "Look, I'm sorry I scared you like that. I promise I won't do that again."

Emily looked hard into his eyes. "I don't believe you." She said levelly.

Jack laughed slightly. "I suppose I deserve that. How about if I _pinky_ promise?"

In her eight-year-old mind, a pinky promise was binding contract, but she was still a little wary.

"How about if I take you ice skating as well?"

"...Fine. Say the pinky promise." Emily ordered, holding out her own pinky.

Jack took it in his with a grin. "I, Jack Rime, pinky promise to never scare you like I just did. And I will also take you ice skating as soon as we go home for our skates."

"Say the rest!" With a sigh, Jack continued. "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. Are you happy?"

"Fine. Let's go home!" The two siblings set off for home at a steady trot. When they burst in their house, faces ruddy and clothes snowy, her mother gave them a look. "You're not coming in the nice clean home with those dirty clothes, are you?"

"Unless you bring us our ice skates, we will." Jack said pertly. His mother gave him a bop on the head and grabbed the skates from the corner they always resided in. "Be careful!" She called as they headed towards the lake.

Jack laughed with a slight grin, grabbing his crook before following his energetic sister towards the lake "We will!". He turned back to his sister, who was tugging him eagerly.

The second they reached the lake, Emily had laced the skates to her boots and set off twirling along the edge of the lake. With expert swiftness, Jack threw his crook down, laced his skates on and joined his sister. Instead of piourettes, he raced around the length of the pond. On his second lap, he grabbed his crook and held it out to his sister, who grabbed it, screaming with laughter. Then she let go and started chasing him of her own accord. To avoid it dragging him down, he tossed his crook aside and put on a burst of speed. He completed his third lap and started to bear down on his younger sister.

"Watch out for the big, bad boogeyman!"

She ducked under his arm and darted towards the side, closer to the middle of the lake. "Be careful." Jack warned. "It's dangerous to be in the middle of a frozen lake." Emily nodded seriously and started to skate forward slowly and cautiously.

As loud as a thunderclap, a crack formed in the ice under her skates. She gave a small whimper and looked up at her brother. Jack quickly took off his skates, remembering to distribute his weight over as much ice as possible.

"It's okay. It's okay!" His heart pounded in his chest, but he tried to remain positive for his baby sister's sake. "Don't look down, just... Look at me." Jack pressed his hand to his chest.

"Jack..." His sister's voice shook, and she looked down. "I'm scared."

The ice cracked further, impossibly loud in his ears. Jack's heartbeat raced. He took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face. "I know, I know." He stepped forward, and the ice cracked slightly under his bare foot. He looked down at it in panic for a moment, but quickly replaced it with a smile, holding his hands out in a calming gesture. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in." He searched frantically for some way to keep her (and him) from panicking. "We're gonna have a little fun instead!"

"No! We're _not_!" His sister whined. If she wasn't in a state of mortal peril, Jack would have been annoyed.

"Would I trick you?" Jack asked. Then he remembered all the times he had.

"Yes! You _always_ play tricks!"

Despite the situation, Jack couldn't hold back a laugh. "Alright." He chuckled. "Well, not-not," Jack took a deep breath to calm his stutter. "Not this time. I promise, I _promise_ you're gonna be... you're gonna be fine."

Emily looked up at him uncertainly.

"You have to believe in me." Jack held up his pinky finger. "I crossed my heart."

Emily nodded, and a sudden thought occurred to him. "Do you want to play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch! Like we play every day." Well, not every day, but close enough. "It's as easy as..." Jack stepped forward on the ice. It cracked a bit under his weight, but he could tell it would hold him up.

"one..." He put all his weight on his foot and nearly overbalanced. He made a great show of regaining it, and his sister giggled. He smiled back, naturally for the first time since the ordeal started. He stepped forward again, and the ice held his weight easily.

"...two..."

He hopped next to his crook. "three!"

Without taking his eyes off his sister, Jack leaned down and grabbed his crook. "Now, it's your turn. One..."

Emily stepped forward, and the ice cracked farther. She gasped, unsteady on her skates. "That's it..." Jack said, heart hammering in his chest. He couldn't keep the smile on his face.

"two." Emily stepped forward again. The ice cracked even deeper, and Emily nearly lost her balance. She looked up at Jack in terror.

"Three!"

With a sudden surge of adrenaline, he lunged forward, hooked the crook around his sister's waist, and tugged her out of the way. He fell backwards as she rocketed towards the edge of the lake.

Emily slid to a stop and looked up in surprise.

She saw Jack standing there, and a grin broke out on her face.

The adrenaline flooded out of his body, and he laughed. Emily was safe! He was about to step forward when the ice under his feet gave way, and he was plunged under water.

"JACK!" Emily screamed. She ran to the edge of the ice and tried to peer through, but the water was murky, and the ice was starting to crack again. Se scooted back towards the shore, unable to believe what had just happened.

"Jack, don't scare me! You promised you wouldn't! You _pinky_ promised!"

* * *

** A/N: The reason that Jack didn't freeze to death from frostbite? (Because fires are not the best way to heat a frostbitten person, according to eHow) Elsa's snow is magic, and the ice magic fused with Jack. It lay dormant until he died and became Jack Frost. Just a little bit of head-canon .**

**P.s. Jack's last name, Rime (pronounced "Rhyme")? It's another name for "frost". Specifially hoarfrost (yea, ha ha, hoar. Real mature), which looks really pretty, actually. Look up some pictures!**

**I might upload another chapter or two about Jack waking up, et cetera, but right now I just wanted to get this finished!**


End file.
